On Friday, vehicles returned to the roads and shops were open in Gaza. Few armed men were visible on the streets and there were reports of only sporadic gunfire.

The relative calm followed scenes of violence on Thursday as Hamas fighters seized remaining Fatah positions including the headquarters of Fatah's Preventative Security force and the presidential compound in Gaza City.

Fatah fighters were seen being led away, stripped to the waist, their fate unknown.

Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip said they would release several high-profile Fatah prisoners, including the commander of the elite Presidential Guard, as part of an "amnesty".

The BBC's Matthew Price in Jerusalem says the West Bank and Gaza Strip will now effectively be split from one another - Gaza run by Hamas and the West Bank by Fatah.

We fully support [Mr Abbas] in his decisions to try to end this crisis for the Palestinian people